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Aug. 27th, 2007 07:31 amWe went to see Crowded House at the Paramount theater in Oakland last night. It was a very remarkable show. First, the Paramount is an absolutely incredible theater, and I would even say that it's worth the trip to Oakland just to see the lobby. It's all simply breathtaking 30's art deco design, with no expense spared, and no detail overlooked.
The surprise highlight for me was Neil Finn's son Liam Finn, who came out on stage at very the beginning to do five songs or so. He was playing solo with a stratocaster that he called "Fred," that had it's low E string re-strung with a Bass guitar string. Liam and Fred would construct these really nice layered songs by playing into a looping effects pedal. He'd start with some solid rhythm chords which sounded very full because of the added octave coming off of that bass string, then he'd lay out a quick Bass line on that top string, then top it with some accenting treble riffs or a repeating solo. All of this is going into the looping pedal, and getting layered into a full-fledged song. After Liam'd get everything to his liking (which was done with a deceptive ease that betrayed a childhood ill spent with countless hours of guitars and effects pedals,) he'd put the guitar down, let the loops roll and go nuts on the drums. It was like a one-man version of the White Stripes, with smooth, Finn family vocal hooks. Sadly, his album won't be released in the US till 2008, wish I had known, (and had more money) cause I bet they had it at the merchandising table. Mystery says there are some tracks of his on iTunes. I'm not sure if they portray his energy, but I'm sure they'd be worth the listen.
Liam's energy carried us right through the listless monotone opening act, into Crowded House's more than hour long set, which was everything that it should have been, and more. They drew from some "woodface" era songs, but also went into a lot of earlier work, and one or two Neil Finn solo pieces. The crowd didn't care, and seemed familiar with all of the incarnations of Neil Finn/Crowded House. I always wondered why Crowded House got so neglected in the 80's and 90's, they have been a solid, incredibly talented band for years and years, but I'm thankful for it now, because the show was full of good music, communion with the packed house full of loyal fans, and absolutely free of pretention.
The surprise highlight for me was Neil Finn's son Liam Finn, who came out on stage at very the beginning to do five songs or so. He was playing solo with a stratocaster that he called "Fred," that had it's low E string re-strung with a Bass guitar string. Liam and Fred would construct these really nice layered songs by playing into a looping effects pedal. He'd start with some solid rhythm chords which sounded very full because of the added octave coming off of that bass string, then he'd lay out a quick Bass line on that top string, then top it with some accenting treble riffs or a repeating solo. All of this is going into the looping pedal, and getting layered into a full-fledged song. After Liam'd get everything to his liking (which was done with a deceptive ease that betrayed a childhood ill spent with countless hours of guitars and effects pedals,) he'd put the guitar down, let the loops roll and go nuts on the drums. It was like a one-man version of the White Stripes, with smooth, Finn family vocal hooks. Sadly, his album won't be released in the US till 2008, wish I had known, (and had more money) cause I bet they had it at the merchandising table. Mystery says there are some tracks of his on iTunes. I'm not sure if they portray his energy, but I'm sure they'd be worth the listen.
Liam's energy carried us right through the listless monotone opening act, into Crowded House's more than hour long set, which was everything that it should have been, and more. They drew from some "woodface" era songs, but also went into a lot of earlier work, and one or two Neil Finn solo pieces. The crowd didn't care, and seemed familiar with all of the incarnations of Neil Finn/Crowded House. I always wondered why Crowded House got so neglected in the 80's and 90's, they have been a solid, incredibly talented band for years and years, but I'm thankful for it now, because the show was full of good music, communion with the packed house full of loyal fans, and absolutely free of pretention.
